Kakao M

The story of Kakao M begins long before its namesake, starting in 1978 when founder Min Yeong-bin established a company called Seoul Records. Initially a subsidiary of an education company, it focused on producing language tapes and classical music records. A key shift occurred in 2005 when SK Telecom acquired a majority stake, and by 2009, the company, now renamed LOEN Entertainment, took control of SK's digital music service, MelOn. This move was pivotal, placing a dominant music streaming platform at the core of its business. The next major turning point came in 2016 with its acquisition by the mobile giant, Kakao Corp., for approximately $1.55 billion. This wasn't just a change in ownership; it was a strategic integration. Kakao saw the power of combining its massive mobile messaging user base with LOEN's leading music content. Renamed Kakao M in 2018, the company began aggressively expanding, acquiring talent agencies and production houses to build a portfolio across music and video. The final act of this transformation was in 2021, when Kakao M merged with its sibling company, KakaoPage, a leader in webtoons and web novels. This created the unified Kakao Entertainment, a powerhouse designed to leverage original stories from webtoons into music, dramas, and films, demonstrating a full-stack approach to content creation and distribution.